paranoia / sweetie pie / pigtails / if I had some schooling, this would make sense / etc.

[oiran]

I was struck today by two recent posts that referenced Derrida's death, one stupid and another sublime. That's all I intend to say about it.

play: All I want is to play, swoops and bursts and skulls cracking, both literally and figuratively. Word like a feather, word like a bludgeon. For everyone who loves to play, Ella Fitzgerald has been singing I've Got a Crush On You all day in my head. (I don't have a download for you this time.)

it looks that way: Despite the fact that I'm an unreliable and tormented monster, there seems to be some misconception that I'm worth being envious of, or that I have something that more rightfully belongs to someone else (maybe you). I'm really not trying to be cryptic, but I'm talking about RL issues so there's no one you know to allude to here, no insinuations to wind around our collective trim ankles.

A day or so ago, a "friend" stopped me on the sidewalk and demanded asked me, "So, what's the deal with the pigtails?"

Her accusatory tone stunned me, and I was default polite (which I wish I wouldn't do). I said, truthfully: "Well, they're cute, and they keep my hair from touching me."

"Oh, yeah. They're cute. I just wondered."

I just stood there stupidly, hoping she'd say something friendly. But, no.

She continued. "It's easy, right? It looks that way." And then she kept walking.

*blinks* What did I ever do to her?

incoherency about reading and writing, but mostly reading: Things read once that I both love (conditionally) and will not read again: Nabokov's Pnin, Baldwin's short story, Going to Meet the Man. Or, now that I've said that, I might have to reread them just to be horrified anew. Someday, I'd like to write something as evocative (i.e., I want to make people feel bad!).

About a year ago, I read Fay by Larry Brown, and it's bothered me ever since that everyone in that story who dies, dies in exactly the same way. I've decided that it bothers me because I can't tell if Mr. Brown intended me to notice, or if neither he nor his editor did. Obviously, they noticed, but the story doesn't read as if anyone is aware: not the characters and not the...omniscient viewpoint. There's certainly a word for this non-character, isn't there? Someone educate me, please. People like to talk about authorial intention in re fanfiction on a fairly regular basis, noting that an author has no control over how a text is read. I have to admit, I do think that an author does have control *, but simply isn't writing well enough if their intent is obscure. I'd probably be able to find multiple examples of intentional obscurity that I approve of (Cortazar in general comes to mind), but then I wonder if my perception of intent is actually extricable from the written material, or if it's merely some conceit of mine.

I think I meant to have a question in there somewhere. Something to discuss.

* Or, at least, can use talent and skill to make it the difference between herding sheep to a particular viewpoint, versus herding cats.

why I'm hard to be friends with: Haven't read e-mail in a couple days, and I know there are things there I need to read. I'm working on finishing a story, which was due yesterday, and I'll get to e-mail after that. I'm having guilt feelings all around.

My dog is still dead. I can't quite get used to this.

boys in dresses: I asked a while back, but perhaps the right eyes didn't see the post. Can anyone identify for me the male models in the Meisel spread in the October W? I know who Boyd and Harry are, but the other three (despite being named in the credits) are a mystery to me. Names to faces, please. I am particularly interested in the pouty lad in the sheer yellow dress leaning against the wall and Harry on page 316.

Also, while I have lost interest in virtually all women's fashion magazines, the various men's Vogues are better than porn, or almost.

Comments

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Thank you. He was a sweet dog, and he tried to be good and mostly was able to achieve it. We should find out soon what happened and I have some idea I might start to feel a bit more resolved then.

[mei-x.livejournal.com]

Pg 309 I'm pretty sure that's RJ with Harry on that couch, and

Pg 316 I think that's RJ as well, judging from the hairline.

I can't find pictures of Kian Mitchum (his name was spelled incorrectly in the credits, I think).

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Now, to me those look like different guys. But I agree that RJ and the guy on page 309 are the same RJ ;)

I found a press release about Kian Mitchum (Robert's grandson) being signed by Warning, but the agency's site is off limits to people not in the market to hire models. Fie upon these stupid agencies! Their business is to get these pretty young people seen, after all.

[mei-x.livejournal.com]

Fie upon these stupid agencies! Their business is to get these pretty young people seen, after all.

Yeah, I found that to be quite stupid as well. At least Ford lets non-industry folk see the models' cards. And the IMG site seems really difficult to navigate.

[mei-x.livejournal.com]

Now, to me those look like different guys.

Oh yeah, I kept going back and forth over the identity of the guy on 316.

And looking at the pics of RJ, it's amazing how much he's changed in 2 years (from those pictures on the link I gave you). I wouldn't have immediately looked at that kid from Ohio and seen the guy in the Meisel spread.

[serabut.livejournal.com]

I'm so so sorry to hear about your dog. {hugs}

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I miss him lots.

[isagel.livejournal.com]

There's certainly a word for this non-character, isn't there? Someone educate me, please.

I would call him the omniscient narrator. Who can be extradiegetic if he talks from outside a story he isn't part of himself or intradiegetic if he is a character in the story he tells. Though most intradiegetic narrators are of course limited to their own view of the story as it develops and are thus not omniscient. You wouldn't believe how complicated the typology of narrators we learnt in comparative literature class is. I still don't understand half of it.

I do believe that there is such a thing as authorial intention, and that you can to some degree discern it. But I also believe that any good text is open to more than one interpretation, and that often the author herself does not see all the possible readings in advance. How I read a text is influenced by the experiences I bring with me into the meeting with that text, and it is impossible to tell how I as an individual reader will react to a specific string of words. Certainly, a good author will know how to steer her readers in the direction she wants them to go, but the very nature of writing and reading makes any herding technique less than fool-proof. My point, I guess, is that though I do believe authorial intention exists, I don't think the author has any greater right than anyone else to interpret the work after it is completed. Any interpretation that is supported by the text is valid, whether it differs from what the author says or not. Then, of course, there are insane interpretations not supported by the text, with which fandom abounds, but that's a different matter... ;)

I'm so sorry about your dog. I know how it feels to lose a pet. *hugs you tight*

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I do believe that there is such a thing as authorial intention, and that you can to some degree discern it. But I also believe that any good text is open to more than one interpretation, and that often the author herself does not see all the possible readings in advance.

I agree that guiding a reader involves setting up velvet ropes rather than constructing barricades, though skill and editing might be able to conjure up something in between. Now I'm trying to imagine what would come of combining a line-up outside a nightclub and the high-walled chutes that lead livestock from pen to...fate. We'll call it fate.

It pains me to agree that the author's opinions re: intent and thus towards interpretation don't really factor in once a text is released into the wild, but you are unfortunately most wise in this regard.

And as to insane interpretations...Mpreg???? Me?

[ex-niciasus652.livejournal.com]

Aw man, James Baldwin. His stories had me bowled over in pain as a teenager. Gah. I must profess that Going to Meet the Man is one book I haven't read probably due to the fact it 's a collection of short stories. I had at that time a strong bias towards stories less than 100 pages. My fav of JB's books are Giovanni's Room, Another Country, and Go Tell it on the Mountain.

Did I ever thank you for introducing me to Nabokov's Lolita. Of course, I knew about the novel through the film, but hadn't actually thought about reading the book.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Actually, Going to Meet the Man is the only Baldwin I've ever read. After that story (which is in an anthology I've had forever), I was scared to read more. Just...ow. But I've been trying to fill in the perceived gaps in my "education" and perhaps I should approach Baldwin. Except not that story.

Lolita: So you read it, then? Despite the liberties the Kubrick film takes with the...emphasis, I guess, I rather love it. The more recent one with Jeremy Irons (whom I'll always love for Brideshead and Dead Ringers, despite the rest of his crap career) and Dominique Swain was, I thought, way too literal and just kind of icky soft-core porn.

If you like Lolita, give Pale Fire a try. It's in the form of a heavily annotated poem and can be read as two separate books or combined. I'd recommend reading the terribly sad and brutal poem first and then reading it with the annotations. It's hilarious and horrible and definitely my favorite Nabokov.

[ex-niciasus652.livejournal.com]

Lolita: I started it but I got diverted to reading the M&C series. There are 20 books in that series and so little time to read. My goodness. I will be returning to Lolita, though. I have enjoyed what I read so far.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

My post on Derrida's death was about the FORCE, yo. I'm in touch with the force lately. Although, somehow it failed to inform me in advance of Christopher Reeve's death.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

OMG!!!111! Did you know that Christopher Reeve died???? He was only 52!!!

It is sad news, but my f-list is looking a bit too much like a rerun of the contest to see who can be saddest about Lex. [/nasty]

*hates everything*

Except you.

[rhiannonhero.livejournal.com]

Heh...yeah, I was talking with a funny girl this morning (guess who) and saying that the first things we thought were: "Oh, so sad." "Oh no! No more Dr. Swann!" and "Oh fuck! Friends list will be flooded with it and so borrrrring!!"

[yammerskooner.livejournal.com]

you know, the greatest philosophizer of the last fifty years dies,
or your dog does.
either way, it's really just a question how much devotion you put into either one.
sad fact of life is that the thing we work hardest to earn is our grief.

[tehomet.livejournal.com]

I am sorry to hear about your dog. *sympathy*